Kreditech Receives 770-Crore Investment From PayU

NEW DELHI: Technology group for digital consumer credit, Kreditech, has received a EUR 110 million (around 770 crore) investment from global online payment service provider PayU, a company statement said here on Wednesday.

The statement said as part of the deal, Kreditech and PayU had agreed to a global partnership to deliver a joint proposition for "point of sale" finance.

According to the statement, the investment is the largest-ever equity investment in a German fintech company and builds on a successful 12-month pilot programme in Poland.

"Kreditech will expand its Lending as a Service (LaaS) offering and deliver its unique AI (artificial intelligence) and machine-learning credit underwriting and loan management technology to PayU's 300,000-strong network of merchants," it said.

"The announcement follows a successful pilot programme managed by Kreditech and PayU, offering Polish consumers improved access to credit in a real-time online process. The pilot programme issued more than EUR 10 million in credit."

The statement noted that through this financing, PayU had acquired a significant minority stake in Kreditech.

"Kreditech's and PayU's...partnership is the first such strategic cooperation pact between a payment service provider and a technology-driven consumer finance company," it added.

Kreditech's LaaS product line is an API (application programme interface)-based solution, which enables partners to offer tailor-made consumer financial products to their customers built on top of its technology and machine-learning based underwriting.